Method and means for remote cap feeding



Sept. 13, 1960 H. E. STOVER 2,952,104

' wzmon AND MEANS FOR REMOTE CAP FEEDING Filed Feb. 4, 1958 7Sheets-Sheet 1 Arrow/Ev f/xreev E 8704 6.

Sept. 13, 1960 Filed Feb. 4, 1958 h H. E. sTovE 2,952,104

METHOD AND mums FOR REMOTE CAP FEEDING '7 Sheets-Sheet Z5 H4 4 6'. Smu

pt- 13, 1960 H. E. STOVER 2,952,104

METHOD AND MEANS FOR REMOTE CAP FEEDING 7 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Feb. 4.1958 INVENTOR.

H4 4 6: Sroree TI'ORNEY Sept. 13, 1960 H. E. STOVER 2,952,104

METHOD AND MEANS FOR REMOTE CAP FEEDING Filed Feb. 4, 1958 7Sheets-Sheet s i 2| 5% Hlh. INVENTOR. kg Hmpvy E. Srowsg mnWmu-Q P 1960H. E. STOVER 2,952,104

METHOD AND MEANS FOR REMOTE CAP FEEDING Filed Feb. 4, 1958 7Sheets-Sheet 6 0 43 r l I109.

lm/ewroy I fl qz y 1 Srowse '4 rroplva'y 'se tf is, 1960 H. E. STOVERMETHOD AND MEANS FOR REMOTE CAP FEEDING Filed Feb. 4, 1958 7Sheets-Sheet 7 INVENTOR. HAeey E. Srovq A woe/var United States PatentMETHOD AND MEANS FOR REMOTE CAP FEEDING 20 Claims. (Cl. 53-3) Thepresent invention relates to a device and method for feeding closurecaps to a sealing machine and more particularly to a method and anautomatic remote cap feed adapted'to supply closures to the sealingmachine at a rate controlled by the speed of operation of the sealingmachine.

In the presently used methods of operation for sealing machines,closures for the containers being sealed are supplied from suitablehoppers or cap feed chutes located at or near the sealing machine. Whenthe cap supply means is thus located in the area of the sealing machine,an operator must be available at this point to maintain the propersupply of closures in the feeding means, and the closures fed to themachine must be brought to the sealing machine by a suitable truck orother conveyance. The present invention eliminates the need for the capfeeding operator and for the cap supply in the area of the packingmachine by providing a remote cap feed which may be located in aposition remote from the sealing machine; for example, in a centralizedclosure supply room. This improves the sanitary conditions and freesspace at the sealing locatio'n itself as it reduces the number ofoperating personnel which work at this location and it eliminates theneed for the trucking of closure caps to this point. 7 i

The centralized cap feeding room may contain as many remote cap feedingmachines as is necessary to supply sealing machines at the variousdifferent packing locations. By centralizing the cap feeding operationin this manner, the storage space for the caps may be centralized and itis possible for a single operator to supervise the supply of closures toseveral sealing machines at several widely spaced locations.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide animproved cap feeding device and method.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an automatic capfeeding machine and method adapted for remote operation.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved meansfor supplying closure caps to a sealing machine from a remote location.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a fully automaticremote cap feeding device.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an automaticremote cap feeding means, several of which maybe supervised by a singleoperator.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an automaticremote cap feeding machine with improved safety features.

Other and further objects of the invention will be obvious upon anunderstanding of the illustrative embodiment about to be described orwill be indicated in the appended claims, and various advantages notreferred to herein will occur to one skilled in the art upon employmentof the invention in practice.

' A preferred embodiment of the invention has been 3 Patented Sept. 13,1960 chosen for purposes ofillustration and description and is shown inthe accompanying drawings, forming a part of the specification, wherein:V

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view showing the remote cap feed of thepresent invention connected to a sealing machine;

Fig. 1a is a perspective view of a package of caps for use with theremote cap feed;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary detailed view of the cap chute;

.Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the cap chute taken along line 3-93 ofFig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a front elevational view of the automatic cap feeder of theremote cap feed of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view of the automatic cap feeder taken along line55 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a top plan view of the automatic cap feeder illustrated inFigs. 4 and 5;

Fig. 7 is a sectional view of the automatic cap feeder taken along line7-7 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 8 is an enlarged side elevational view of the bin portion of theautomatic cap feeder of Fig. 4;

Fig. 9 is an enlarged detailed top plan view of the automatic cap feederair control switches;

Fig. 10 is an enlarged detailed view of the contact head of the pusherrod;

Fig. 11 is a sectional view of the pusher head taken along line 1111 ofFig. 10;

Fig. 12 is a view of .the pusher head taken along line 12-12; of Fig.10;

Fig. 13 is an enlarged front elevational view of the intake end of thecap chute;

Fig. 14 is a side'elevational view of the delivery end of the cap chute;

Fig. 15 is a sectional view of the delivery end of the cap chute takenalong line 15-15 of Fig. 14;

Fig. 16 is a sectional view of the delivery end of the cap chute-takenalong line 16-16 of Fig. 14;

Fig. 17 is a sectional view of the delivery end of the cap chute takenalong line 1717 of Fig. 16; and

'Fig. 18 is a schematic diagram of the electrical trol system for theremote cap feed.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION The remote cap feed will first be describedgenerally with particular reference to Fig. 1. The remote cap feed hasan automatic cap feeder 1 which is located at a convenient closurestorage point and which is connected by an elongated cap chute 2 to asealing machine 3 located in a packing room 4. Caps 5, preferably packedin packages 6 by tubular wrappers 7 (Fig. la), are fed into theautomatic cap feeder 1 by the operator. The automatic cap feeder 1includes a pusher rod 8 which pushes a package 6 of the caps 5 into theintake end 9 of the chute 2 in each cycle of its operation. The chute 2is initially filled with acontinuous line of the caps 5, and thereafterthe entry of a package 6 of the caps 5 into the intake end 9 forces acorresponding number of caps 5 into the delivery end 10 of cap chute 2.The operation of the pusher rod 8 is controlled by a sensing means atthe delivery end of the chute as will be more fully described below.

As seen in Figs. 1-3, the cap chute 2 comprises parallel rods 11attached in spaced position by connector rings 12 so that theyaccommodate closure caps 5. The vertical and inclined portions of thecap chute 2 have four rods 11 which completely surround the closure caps5, as seen in the left-hand side of Fig. 2, to prevent spillage of thecaps from these portions of the cap chute. The generally horizontalportions of the cap chute, such as portion 2a, preferably have an openportion provided by the eliminacontion of one of the top enclosing rods11. This allows access to the cap chute 2 at this point and alsoprovides a safety feature inasmuch as a jamming of the cap chute. in 2Automatic cap feeder As briefly described above, the automatic capfeeder I automatically and periodically pushes a stack or package ofcaps 5 into the cap chute 2 to provide a continuous supply of caps atthe sealing machine 3. Theoperation of the automatic cap feed and itspusher rod 8 will now be described in detail. 7

As illustrated in Figs. 5 and 8, a bin 17 is provided adjacent to thepusher rod into which the operator loads the cap containing packages '6and which itself intermittently feeds the packages 6 to a trough 18adjacent to the pusher rod 8 through the cooperation of the inclinedbottom surface 19 of the bin 5, the cooperating star wheel 20, andagitator means 21. The purpose of the. agitator means 21 is to insure aconstant feeding of the cap packages 6 to the trough 18. The details ofthe agitator are illustrated in Fig. 8. A portion 19 of the bin bottomis hingedly connected at shaft 22 so that it may rotate about the shaft22 between the raised and lowered positions shown in Fig. 8. An airmotor 24 has its reciprocating arm 25 operatively connected to the outerend 26 of the bottom plate 19 through the intermediation of the hingedcam member 27. A continuous reciprocating motion of the motor arm 25 isprovided by connecting the electrically operated control valve 28 of theair motor 24 to microswitches 29 and 30. Microsvvitch 30 is connectedthrough the solenoid portion 32 of the air motor controlvalve 28 (Fig.18) so that microswitch 30 is closed when the bottom 19' is in itslowermost position. The closing of the switch 30 moves the control valve28 of the air motor 24 to its upward position so that the plunger 25raises the bottom 19' to'its uppermost position. When its uppermostposition is reached, it opens the microswitch 30 and simultaneouslycloses the microswitch 29. This energizes the other half 31 of thecontrol coil, causing the air motor armature 25 to move downwardly andthereby returning the bottom 19 to its lowered position. The aboveoperation continues as long as the air motor 24 and micro switches 29and 30 are connected to their sources of air and electricity,respectively. The upper end 19" of the bin bottom is preferably hingedlyconnected at 19" so that it may be lowered to facilitate loading and maythereafter be raised to facilitate the downward feeding of cap packages.An air motor or other hydraulic means 23 operated by controls 23 (Fig.8) is used to adjust the bottom portion '19". i

The tr'ough 18 is provided at the lower end of the bin 17 to receive apackage 6 prior to the operation of the pusher rod 8. In order to causethe entrance of the g packages 6 into the trough 18 at the proper timewhen the pusher rod 8 has reached its withdrawn position as seen in Fig.4, a star wheel 20 is mounted across the lower end of the bin 17 whichhas projecting fins 31;

The lowermost package 6 in the bin 17 is held in the pocket intermediatethe fins 31 until the star wheel 20 is rotated by its control means torotate the next pocket to the surface of the bin 17. In order tosynchronize the entry of the package 6 into the trough 18 with themotion of the pusher rod 8, the star wheel 20 is controlled by a ratchet33. As illustrated in Fig. 5, the pawl 34 is pivotally connected to arm35 of air motor 36. The air motor 36 is connected to the air controlvalve 37 which alternate- 1y supplies compressed air to opposite sidesofthe air motor piston under the control of the contact arm 38' which ispivotally mounted on the control plate 39. When the pusher rod 8 isbeing returned to its withdrawn position as seen in Fig. 4 after havingdelivered a group of caps from the trough 18 to the cap chute 2, theroller 40 on the end portion 41 of the pusher arm 8 (Figs. 10 and 11)engages the contact arm 38, thereby temporarily forcing it downwardlyand operating the valve 37. On the downward stroke of contact arm 38,the air motor 35 is moved in one direction, permitting a partialrevolution of the star wheel 20, and as the roller 40 clears the contactarm 38, it returns to its normal upward position, thereby causing thevalve 37 to return the air motor 35 and pawl 32 to their originalpositions. The air motor 36 is thus caused to reciprocate in oppositedirections, permitting' the weight of the packages 6 in the star wheel20 to rotate the star wheel 20 a distance corresponding to one ratchettooth so that the next trough between the star wheel blades 31 engagesthe next lowermost bag in the hopper 5 and so that the bag previouslyheld in the star wheel 20 rolls into the trough 18 preparatory to thenext movement of the plunger 8. In order to prevent movement of the starwheel 20 during inward motion of the pusher rod 8, the roller 40 ismounted on a pivot arm 42 which swings clear of the valve contact arm onthe inward stroke of pusher rod 8 but which is held downwardly on theoutward stroke by pin 43.

The operation of the pusher rod 8 will now be ex-- plained. Thereciprocating pusher rod 8 is part of the air motor 45 which is mountedon a suitable support means at the right-hand end of the trough 18 andwhich is positioned so that the end 41 of the pusher rod 8 engages thecenter of a package 6 of caps 5 in the trough 18. Air motor 45 issupplied with air at the desired pressure by an inlet 44 and has acontrol valve operated by suitable electric solenoids to move the pusherrod in opposite directions. The movement of the pusher rod 8 against thecaps 7 and the resulting movement of the caps 7 into the intake end 9 ofthe cap chute 2, as is illustrated in Fig. 13, is initiated by a pusherrod control switch 47 whichis mounted at the delivery end 10 of the capchute 2, as is illustrated in Fig. 14. When the supply of caps in thedelivery end 10 of the cap chute .2 reaches the level shown in Fig. 14,the contact. arm 48 of the switch 47 springs outwardly within the capchute, thereby closing the switch 47. Switch 47 is connected to thecontrol solenoid of the air motor 45, and when it is closed, the-controlsolenoid of the air motor 45 moves to its pushing position, causing thepusher rod 8 to move from its withdrawn position, as seen in Fig. 4, toits fully extended position adjacent to the intake end 9 of the capchute 2 as illustrated in Fig. 13. When the pusher rod 8 reaches itsfully extended position, its end 41 (Fig. 10) engages a pusher rodreturn microswitch 49. Switch 49 movesthe pusher arm control solenoid inthe opposite direction, causing the pusher rod 8 to'be withdrawn to theposition illustrated in Fig. 4. The operation of the switches 47 and 49will be described more fully below in connection with a descrip tion ofthe schematic diagram of the control circuit illustrated in Fig. 18.

As described above, the withdrawal of the pusher rod 18'as the pusherrod 8 reaches its fully withdrawnposition as seen in'Fig. 4. Pusher rod8 will remain in its withdrawn position until the sealing machine lowersthe stack of caps at the delivery end 10 of the cap chute 2 to the pointillustrated in Fig. 14, when the switch 47 will once again operate thepusherrod air motor 45.

Cup chute brake In order to provide for the intermittent operation ofthe pusher rod control switch 47 to cause additional packages of caps 5to be pushed into the cap chute 2, it is necessary for the delivery endof the cap chute 2 to be emptied adjacent to the pusher rod controlswitch 47 as the closures 5 are used by the sealing machine 3. This isaccomplished by providing a brake means 50 in the cap chute 2 at a fixeddistance above the pusher rod control switch 47. As the sealing machine3 continues to operate and to withdraw closures 5 from the delivery end10 of the chute 2, the height of the stacked closures in the cap chute 2graduallydecreases as the brake means '50 prevents passage of theclosures 5 into the delivery end of the chute 10. The stack of theclosures -5 in the delivery end 10 of chute 2 will eventually be loweredto the point illustrated in Fig. 14, at which time the sensing arm 48 onthe pusher rod control switch 47 will swing inwardly of the cap chuteclosing the switch 47 and thereby initiating the operation of the pusherrod 8. The space in the cap chute 2 between the uppermost closure 5 andthe brake means 50 when the switch 47 operates is made slightly greaterthan the length of the cap packages 6 to permit the re-entry of caps 5into this space due to the operation of the pusher rod 8. When thepusher rod 8 operates to force another package of closures 5 into thechute 2, it is necessary for the closure caps Sadjacent to the brakemeans 50 to be forced past the brake means 50. One satisfactory type ofbrake means which will prevent the passage of the closures 5 due to theforce of gravity but which will permit the passage of the closures underthe additional force of the pusher rod 8 comprises a pressure brake suchas is indicated at 52 in Figs. 14 and 17. The pressure brake 52comprises a slidably mounted stop 54 which is resiliently held in anormal projecting position Within the cap chute 2 by means of the spring55. When the caps 5 are resting against the stop 54, the stop 54 engagesthe lowermost cap 5 and prevents its passage downwardly of the capchute. The additional force on the closure caps 5 as the pusher rod 8moves additional caps into chute 2 forces the stop 54 outwardly of thecap chute, allowing the closures 5 to pass through the brake means 50.The resiliently mounted stop means 54 provides an adequate braking meansin many cases; however, in the preferred embodiment illustrated herein,an additional electrically controlled locking brake 55 is provided inwhich a pair of gripping members 56 having closure ongaging lips 57(Fig. 16) is provided in cap chute 2 to positively engage the lowerclosure 5 during the braking period. As seen in Figs. 16 and 17, thegripping members 56 are pivotally mounted on shafts 58 on a supportmember 59 and the shafts themselves are connected to an air motor 68through the intermedi-ation of arms 61. At the beginning of the chuteloading cycle of the pusher rod 8, the roller 67 on the pusher :rod 8closes a switch 62 energizing section 63 (Fig. 18) of the air motor 60solenoid and lowering the air motor arm 64 and thereby swinging thegripping members 56 clear of the closure caps 5 in the cap chute 2,allowing them to pass the braking means 50. When the pusher rod 8reaches its fully extending position adjacent to the intake end 9 of thecap chute 2, the switch 65 is closed by roller 67, causing theenergizing of section 66 of the air motor 60 solenoid, raising the airmotor arm 64, and thereby swinging the gripping members 56 inwardly ofthe cap chute 2 to prevent the further passage of caps 5 past thebraking means 50. The-switches 62 and 65 which open and close lockingbrake 55 are engaged by roller 67 on the pusher rod 8. The roller 67only actuates the switches on the pushing or outward stroke as theroller 67 swings upwardly about its pivoted mounting 68 on the returnstroke. Pin 69 holds the roller 67 in its downward position on thepushing stroke. Thus, it is seen that caps 5 are allowed to pass thebrake means 50 only during the loading operation as a package ofclosures 5 is forced into the chute 2. Thereafter, the use of theclosures 5 by the sealing machine 3 gradually 6 creates an empty spacein the cap chute 2 between the switch 47 and the brake'50. 'When thisspace reaches the predetermined length which allows the switch arm 48 ofthe switch 47 to swing inwardly of the cap chute, another loading cycleis started which includes the open ing of the brake means 50 asdescribed above.

Contour brake In order to partially arrest the downward motion of theclosures 5 and to provide a smooth entry of the closures 5 into thespace beneath the braking means 50 during a chute loading cycle, aresiliently mounted contour brake 70 is pivotally mounted on the capchute as seen in Figs. 14 and 15. Contour brake 70 has a pivotalmounting'at 71 and it is resiliently held within the cap chute'2 by aflexible spring member 72 fastened at one end of the contour brake 70and connected at its opposite end to a pressure regulating air motor 73through linkage 74. When the contour brake is in its inward or brakingposition as seen in Fig. 14, the arm 75 of air motor .73 has been movedupwardly causing a clockwise rotation of the attached link 74 and thespring member 72, thereby causing an inward or counterclockwise rotationof the con tour brake 70 into the cap chute 2. The air motor arm 75 iscontrolled by control solenoid 76 which has one section 77 connected tocontact 78 of switch 79 and its other section 80 connected to contact81. When the level of caps 5 in the cap chute reaches a point just abovethat shown in Fig. 14, arm 82 of switch 79 moves inwardly closingcontact 78 and energizing solenoid section 77 raising air motor arm 75and moving contour brake 70 to its braking position. Thus, the arm 82 ofthe contour brake switch 79 is positioned to operate prior to theoperation of the pusher rod switch 47 to insure that the contour brake70 is in its braking position before the pusher rod 8 is activated tomove caps past the braking means 50. After the supply of caps 5 beginsto build up in the cap chute adjacent the contour brake switch 79, theswitch arm 82 will be forced outwardly, closing switch contacts 81 andenergizing solenoid portion 80, causing the arm 75 of the contour brakeair motor 73 to be lowered, thereby rotating the contour brake 70outwardly of the cap chute to prevent its interfering with the normalpassage of caps 5'downwardly to the sealing machine.

Gripping jaw and kicker In order to insure the removal of the tubularwrapper 7 from the package 6 as the caps 5 are moved into the intake end9 of the cap chute 2, a resilient mouth such as a rubber ring 91 havingan inside diameter slightly greater than the diameter of the caps 5 ismounted on the end of the cap chute 2 as illustrated in Fig. 13. Inaddition to the ring 91, a gripping means 92 is provided at the right(Fig. 4) of the ring 91. The gripping means 92 is shown in detail inFig. 7 and it comprises a movable gripping jaw 94 mounted for verticalmotion on the arm 95 of an air motor 96. The air motor 96 moves thegripping jaw 94 from a position in contact with the tubular wrapper 7 ofpackage 6 during the feeding action of the pusher rod 8 where it assistsin the stripping off of the tubular wrapper 7 to a raised position clearof the tubular wrapper 7 at other times. The operation of the air motor96 is controlled by an air control valve 97 which is mounted beneath thetrough 18 in such a position that it is operated by the pusher rod 8during its cap pushing action. The control valve 97 is engaged by arotatably mounted contact arm 98 as seen in Figs. 4 and 9. Contact am 98normally is held in its upward position by the control valve. However,when the pusher rod 8 moves against a stack 6 in the trough 18, the arm98 is moved downwardly by the roller 67 (Fig. 10) on the end of thepusher rod 8. As seen in Figs. 10 and 12, the roller 67 is pivotallymounted on a support arm 67' so that the arm 67' is held in its'verticalactuating position on the inward or pushing stroke of the pusher arm 8by pin 69, thereby activating the control valve 97 to lower the grippingjaw 94. On theoutward or return stroke of the pusher rod 8, however, themounting arm 67 is free to rotate in a clockwise direction (Fig. so thatthe control valve is not actuated and the gripping jaw 94 returns to itsraised position.

When the tubular wrapper 7 has been removed from the closures 5 and thepusher rod 8 is returning to its withdrawn position, a kicker means 99removes the stripped wrapper from the automatic cap feed in thefollowing manner. The kicker 99, as illustrated in Fig. 7, comprises akicker plate 100 which is mounted on the end of arm 101 of an air motor102. When the air motor 102 is energized, arm 101 moves the kicker plate100 outwardly against the removed wrapper'7, thereby thrusting it into asuitable disposal chute. The outward and inward motion of the kicker 99are controlled by an air control valve 103 mounted beneath the pusherrod 8 and operated thereby. A pivotally mounted contact am 104 engagesthe control valve 103. Contact arm 104 is engaged by the roller 40 onthe end 41 of the pusher rod 8. Roller 40, as seen in Figs. '10 and 12,is mounted to engage the contact arm 104 only during the withdrawalaction of the pusher rod 8. Thus, as the roller 40 is moved from left toright (Fig. 4) on the return stroke of the pusher rod 8, it depressesthe control arm 104, thereby causing a temporary outward movement of thekicker air motor and its attached kicker plate for the period that theroller 40 is passing over the contact arm 104.

Safety devices Safety means are provided on the gripping means 92 toprevent movement of the pusher rod 8 through the first portion of acycle unless the gripping jaw 94 is in its raised position to prevent apremature gripping of the cap package 6. This safety means comprises amicroswitch 105 mounted above the gripping jaw air motor 96 (Fig. 7).The switch 105 has a set of contacts 106 which are connected in serieswith the pusher rod control circuit, and the switch 105 is adjusted sothat the contacts 106 are closed when the gripping jaws are in theirraised position allowing the pusher rod 8 to initiate its normalmovement as long as the gripping jaw 94 is in its raised position clearof the cap package 6. A safety means is also provided on the kicker 99to prevent the initiation of the movement of the pusher rod 8 exceptwhen the kicker 99 is in its withdrawn position. This safety meanscomprises a microswitch 107 whose contacts 108 are also connected inseries in the pusher rod control circuit. The switch 107 is positionedso that its contacts 108 are closed when the kicker is in its withdrawnposition, allowing normal operation of the pusher rod when the kicker 99is in this position but preventing the-initiation of an inward movementof the pusher rod 8 in the event the kicker 99 is in its outwardposition in the path of the cap package 6.

Additional safety means are also provided to prevent the operation ofthe pusher rod 8 when protective covers are removed from the automaticfeeder device. Thus, for example, microswitches 109 and 110 are mountedon the sides of the bin 17, and the contacts 111 and 112, respectively,on these microswitches are set to open when the cover 113 is lifted orrotated to expose the ends of the trough 18 and. the input end of thecap chute 2. The contacts 111 of switch 109 are connected in series withan air valve solenoid 114 in a main air supply control valve. Open ofthe cover 113 closes the contacts 111 thereby energizing the solenoid114 so that the air suuply to the cap feeder is shut off, stopping itsoperation. Contacts 112 (Fig. 18) 'of switch 110 are connected in apusher rod reversing circuit in parallel with the regular reversingswitch 49 so that the pusher rod 8 is reveresd towards its withdrawnposition in the event the cover 113 The electrical control circuit Theelectrical control circuit is illustrated in Fig. 18. A switch 115connects the circuit with a conventional voltage source 117 and a pilotlight 118 is connected across the input to indicate the closing ofswitch 115. As described above, four of the air motors, i.e. the hopperagitator air motor 23, the cap brake motor 60, the contour brake air 73,and the pusher rod air motor 45, are all controlled by electricsolenoids each having a double winding. One winding is energized to movethe control valve and theair motor arm in one direction, and the otherwinding is energized to move the control valve and the air motor arm inthe opposite direction. The control valves remain in the position towhich they are moved by one solenoid until the other solenoid isenergized. The solenoids are powered as seen in Fig. 18 by the secondaryof control transformer 119. The operation of the switches which controlthe air motor solenoids for the hopper agitator, the cap chutebrake, andthe contour brake have been described in detail above. In each case theswitches which control these motors are connected between the secondary120 of the control transformer 119 and the air motor solenoids as shown.

The air motor 45 has its control solenoid 120 similarly connected to thesecondary of transformer 119; however, the section 121 which isenergized to move pusher rod 8 against the package of caps and to movethe caps into chute 2 is energized by a pusher rod control relay 116which itself is controlled by a separate circuit connected across theswitch 115. The circuit which operates the control relay 116 to closeits contacts 123 includes a toggle switch 124 and the pusher rod switch47 both located at the delivery end of the chute '2, the contacts 106and 108 of the gripper jaw safety and the kicker safety, the pusherrodforward switch 125, and contacts 126 of a holding relay 127. Thepusher rod forward switch 125 is mounted at the end of the air motor 45where its contacts are closed by the pusher rod 8 when the rod 8 is inits fully withdrawn position. This circuit for control relay 116operates in the following manner. Prior to the commencement of anoperating cycle of pusher rod 8, the pusher rod 8 is in its fullywithdrawn position as seen in Fig. 4 and the gripper jaw 94 and thekicker 99 are both in their withdrawn positions. The gripping jaw safetycontacts 106, the kicker safety contact 108, and the pusher rod forwardswitch 125 will all be in their closed position and contacts 126 on theholding relay will be closed with the holding relay in its unenergizedcondition as seen in Fig. 18. The operator of the sealing machine willthen close the toggle switch 124. If there is a gap in the supply ofclosure caps adjacent the pusher rod control switch 47 at the deliveryend 10 of the cap chute, the switch 47 will be closed. This connects thepusher rod control relay 116 across the voltage source 117 therebyclosing its contacts 123 so that the section 121 of the air motorsolenoid 120 is energized causing the air motor 45 to move the pusherrod 8 outward-1y against a package of caps in the trough 18. As soon asthe pusher rod 8 moves outwardly, the pusher rod forward switch 125moves to contact 128, thereby opening the pusher rod control relay. Thissimultaneously energizes the holding relay 127 as its contacts 129 areclosed and the holding relay 127 will remain with contacts 126 openuntil the lpresence of caps in the delivery end of the cap chute 2 opensthe pusher rodcontrol switch 47. The holding relay 127 preventscontinuous operation of the pusher rod 8 when no caps are beingdelivered to open the pusher rod control switch 47. Meanwhile, pusherrod 8 continues to move outwardly until its outer end 41 contacts thepusher rod return switch 49. When switch 49 is closed by the pusher rod8, the other side 122 of the air motor control solenoid 120 is energizedcausing the air motor 45 to re- Operation The operation of the remotecap feed which has been described in detail above will now be summarizedwith particular reference to the schematic diagram of the re- IFIIOlGcap feed electrical control circuit as illustrated in ig. l8.

In loading the bin 17 with a suitable supply of cap packages 6, theouter end of the bin including the bottom section 19" is lowered to asuitable height by the use of hydraulic controls 23'. When the loadinghas been completed, the bottom section 19" is raised to provide asufficient incline for effective gravity feeding of the cap packages 6toward trough 18. As long as air is supplied to the remote cap feed andthe main electrical switch 115 remains closed, the automatic binagitator 21 will operate. The air motor 24 of the agitator will move itsarm 25 in the direction in which it was moving when the remote cap feedwas turned off. When the section of the bin bottom 19' which isconnected to the agitator 21 reaches its extreme downward or upwardposition, the direction of movement of the air motor arm 25 willautomatically be reversed by the closing of either switch 29 or switch30 as described more fully above. Thereafter, the agitator 21 willcontinue to operate, causing the cap packages 6 to move downwardly inbin 17 under the combined force of the agitator action and the pull ofgravity towards the trough loading star wheel 20.

When there is a gap in the pile of caps in the delivery end of the capchute 2, the pusher rod control switch 47 will be closed as will alsonormally be the stripping jaw safety switch contact 106, the kickersafety switch contact 108, the pusher rod forward switch 125, and holdrelay 127 contacts 126. The pusher rod control relay 116 will thereforebe connected across the volt-age source 117 as soon as the main switch115 and the control toggle switch 124 are closed to start the remote capfeed. The closing of the pusher rod control relay 116 connects thesecondary 120 of the control transformer 119 across the loading section121 of the pusher air motor solenoid 120. The pusher rod 8 is now movedtowards the intake end 9 of the cap chute 2 by air motor 45 therebymoving a cap package 6 into the intake end of cap chute 2 from thetrough 18. When the pusher rod 8 reaches its fully extended positionwith its end 41 adjacent to the cap chute 2, it contacts the pusher rodreturn switch 49. The closing of the switch 49 energizes the returnsection 122 of the pusher rod air motor solenoid 120 causing the airmotor 45 to be reversed in direction and causing the pusher rod 8 to bereturned to its withdrawn position.

Pusher rod 8 will remain stationary in its withdrawn position until thesealing machine 3 utilizes sufficient closures to close the pusher rodcontrol switch 47 at the delivery end 10 of the cap chute. If the capchute 2 has not been filled with closures, the pusher rod control switch47 will remain closed with the result that the holding relay 127 remainsin its open position with its contacts 126 open. Another cycle of thepusher rod 8 may be initiated when the circuit is in this position byopening and reclosing the control toggle switch 124 which causes thecontacts 126 of the holding relay 127 to be reclosed. As the pusher rod8 is moved towards the'delivery end of the cap chute 2, the gripping jaw94 is lowered against the tubular wrapper 7 on the package of caps 6 asthe air control valve 97 of the gripping jaw air motor 96 is actuated bythe roller 67 on the pusher rod 8. On the return stroke of the pusherrod 8, the air control valve 103 is actuated by roller 40 on the pusherrod 8, thereby actuating the kicker air motor 102 so that the kickerplate ejects the removed cap wrapper 7 from the automatic cap feed. Justbefore the pusher rod 8 reaches its fully withdrawn position, roller 40also contacts the operating valve 37 for the air motor 35 causing thepawl 34 to rock and allowing the star wheel 20 to rotate a distancecorresponding to one ratchet tooth so that a fresh package 6 of caps isallowed to roll into the trough 18 preparatory to the next cap feedingcycle of the pusher rod 8.

During the initial cap feeding movement of the pusher rod 8, thegripping members 56 of the brake means 50 at the delivery end 10 of capchute 2 are opened to allow the caps 5 in cap chute 2 to pass the brakemeans 50. The gripping members 56 of the brake means 50 are opened bythe operation of their interconnected air motor 60 which is controlledby the contact of roller 67 on the pusher rod 8 against the brakeopening switch 62. When the pusher rod 8 reaches its fully extendedposition, its roller 67 closes the switch 65, returning the brake airmotor 60 to its original position with the gripping members 56 of thebrake means 50 rotated back to their cap braking position. Since thebrake means 50 prevents the passage of closures 5 behind it in cap chute2 downwardly to the sealing machine 3, the gradual use of the closures 5between the brake 50 and the'sealing machine 3 will form a gap in theclosure chute 2 adjacent to the pusher rod control switch 47 so that itwill be closed when a gap is formed in cap chute 2 whose lengthcorresponds generally to the length of apacka'ge of closures 6. Theclosing of the pusher rod control switch 47 when this occurs willautomatically start the above-described loading cycle, causing a packageof caps 5 to be moved into the intake end 9 of the cap chute 2 and acorresponding number of caps to be moved past the brake means 50 intothe gap at the delivery end 10 of the cap chute 2.

It will be seen that the present invention provides an improved remotecap feeding device particularly adapted for use with sealing machineryso that it may supply caps thereto from a centralized and remote capfeeding position. By using the remote cap feed of this invention, thearea in the immediate neighborhood of the sealing machine may be keptfree of closure supplying and feeding operations and this area maytherefore be made more sanitary and less cluttered. The method anddevice described above may be used to supply several sealing machinesfrom a single remotely located cap feeding station and the operation ofseveral remote cap feeding devices may be supervised by a singleoperator as the device disclosed is relatively simple, efficient, safe,and rugged and as the cap storing bin associated with each remote capfeeding machine is capable of storing and handling a relatively largesupply of closures.

As various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangementof the parts herein Without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention and without sacrificing any of its advantages, it is to beunderstood that all matter herein is to be interpreted as illustrativeand not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A remote cap feed for a sealing machine comprising the combination ofan elongated cap chute, means to store a plurality of stacks of capsadjacent to one end of said cap chute, means to feed a stack of capssuccessively from saidstoragemeans into one end of said cap chute,sensing means positioned at the opposite end of said cap chute andconnected to the second said means to operate it to feed caps into saidcap chute when said cap chute is partially emptied of caps adjacent saidsensing means by the sealing machine, and braking means at the oppositeend of said cap chute in advance of said sensing means and adapted toprevent the passage of caps thereby to the sealing machine until capsare forced past the braking means by the operation of said means to feedastack of caps into said one end of said cap chute. '2. The remote capfeed as claimed in claim 1 in which said brake means comprises apressure brake having a resiliently mounted stop removably projectinginto said cap chute.

3. The remote cap feed as claimed in claim 1 in which said brake meanscomprises a motor actuated stop means movably mounted and operativelyconnected to the motor for movement between a first braking positionwithin said cap chute and a second position clear of said chute, andswitch means connected to said motor and positioned to be engaged bysaid cap feeding means to move said stop means to its second position ascaps are fed into said cap chute. a

4. The remote cap feed as claimed in claim 1 which further comprises asecond brake means intermediate said first named braking means and theopposite end of said chute, said second brake means comprising aresiliently mounted cap retarding means adapted to engage caps in saidcap chute and to slow their movement towards said opposite end thereof.

5. The remote cap feed as claimed in claim 4 inwhich said second brakemeans further comprises a motor means operatively connected to said capretarding means, and a switch means in said cap chute connected to saidmotor means whereby said motor moves said retarding means clear of saidcap chute when said cap chute is filled with closures adjacent to saidsensing means.

6. A remote cap feed for a sealing machine comprising the combination ofan elongated cap chute, an automatic cap feeder positioned at one end ofsaid cap chute comprising a pusher to push a plurality of capssuccessively into said one end of said cap chute, braking means in saidcap chute spaced from its opposite end adapted to resist the passage ofcaps through said chute to the sealing machine, sensing means positionedon said cap chute intermediate the opposite end and said braking meansand connected to the automatic cap feeder to control the operation ofthe'pusher means whereby caps are fed into the firstend of said capchute when the sealing machine utilizes enough closure to form a gap ofpredetermined length in the caps adjacent said sensing means, andmeans-to temporarily open said braking means during the feeding of capsinto said chute by said pusher whereby the gap in the cap chute isrefilled.

7. The remote cap feed as claimed in claim 6-in which said pushercomprises a reciprocally mounted pusher rod operatively connected to areversible motor, said motor having its reversing control connected tosaid sensing means whereby said pusher rod is moved towards said chutewhen said gap of predtermined length is sensed thereby, and saidreversing means also connected to a switch means adjacent to said oneend of said cap chute and adapted to be actuated by said pusher rod whensaid pusher rod is moved thereagainst whereby said motor is reversed tomove said pusher rod away from said cap chute.

8. The remote cap feed as claimed in claim 7 in which said reversiblemotor comprises an air motor, and said reversing control comprises anelectrically operated air control valve.

9. A remote cap feed for an automatic sealing machine comprising thecombination of an elongated cap chute having one end connected to thesealing machine cap feeding mechanism, an automatic cap feederpositioned at the other end of said cap chute comprising a pusher topush a plurality of caps successively into said other end of said capchute, braking means in said cap chute spaced from the sealing machineend and adapted to resist the passage of caps through said chute,sensing means positioned on said cap chute intermediate the sealingmachine and said braking means and connected to the automatic cap feederto control the operation of the pusher means whereby caps are fed intothe other end of said cap chute when there is a gap of predeterminedlength in the caps between the sealing machine and said braking means,and means to temporarily open said braking means during the feeding ofcaps into said chute by said pusher whereby the gap in the cap chute isrefilled.

10. The remote cap feed as claimed in claim 9 which further comprises abin adapted to contain stacks of caps arranged in discrete packages,said bin adapted to feed the packages to a trough positionedintermediate the said one end of the cap chute and the pusher, and atrough feeder means intermediate said trough and said bin adapted tofeed one package to said trough for each feeding action of the pushermeans.

'11. The remote cap feed as claimed in claim 10 in which said bin hasits bottom inclined toward said trough, and said trough feeder comprisesa gravity operated star wheel having a ratchet control means operativelyconnected to said pusher means whereby the rotation of the star wheel issynchronized with the movement of the pusher means.

12. The remote cap feed as claimed in claim 10 which comprises astripping means at said one end of said cap chute adapted to strip acover from each package as said pusher means moves the caps into saidchute, and a kicker means adjacent thereto and adapted to eject thestripped cover from said trough. p

13. The remote cap feed as claimed in claim 10 in which said bin has asloping bottom adapted to roll packages towards said trough,-and saidbottom has a movably mounted portion connected to a reciprocable drivemeans, means to reciprocate said drive means whereby said movablymounted portion is agitated to facilitate the motion of the packagestowards the trough.

14. The remote cap feed as claimed in claim 10 which further comprises agripping jaw movably mounted and positioned to engage the packagesurface adjacent to the said one end of the cap chute, a rubber-likering member mounted on the said one end of the cap chute having aninside diameter slightly greaterthan the cap diameter, and said ring andsaid gripping jaw cooperating to strip a wrapper from the package ofcaps as the caps are pushed into the cap chute from said trough by saidpusher means.

15. The remote cap feed as claimed in claim 14 which further comprises asafety switch positioned adjacent to said gripping jaw and having itscontacts connected in the pusher means control circuit, said safetyswitch positioned to be closed only when said gripping jaw is out ofengagement with a package whereby the pusher means is operative only atthis position of the gripping jaw.

16. The remote cap feed as claimed in claim 13 in which saidreciprocable drive means comprises a reversible air motor having anelectrically controlled reversing valve, and said reciprocating meanscomprises a pair of switches connected to said valve and positioned tobe alternately closed by said movably mounted portion of said bottom toreverse said valve and said air motor.

'17. The remote cap feed as claimed in claim 12 and which furthercomprises a safety switch positioned adjacent to said kicker means andhaving its contacts connected in the pusher means control circuit, saidsafety switch position to be closed only when said kicker means iswithdrawn from the stripping means whereby the pusher means is operativeonly at this position of the kicker means. I. i

18. A remote cap feed comprising the combination of an elongated capchute, an automatic cap feeder positioned at one end of said cap chutecomprising a pusher to push a plurality of caps successively into saidone end of said cap chute, braking means in said cap chute spaced fromits opposite end adapted to resist the passage of caps through saidchute, sensing means positioned on said cap chute intermediate theopposite end and said braking means and connected tothe automatic capfeeder to control the'operation of the pusher means whereby caps are fedinto the first end of said cap chute when there is a gap ofpredetermined length in the caps adjacent said sensing means, means totemporarily open said braking means during the feeding of caps into saidchute by said [pusher whereby the gap in the cap chute is refilled, andholding means adapted to inactivate the pusher means when the gapremains unfilled after the movement of said pusher towards said capchute.

19. The remote cap feed as claimed in claim 18 in which said holdingmeans comprises a holding relay.

20. A method of automatically feeding closure caps to a sealing machinefrom a remote position which comprises wrapping a plurality of caps inwrappers in stacked relationship to form packages of caps, thereafterremoving the wrapper from a stack of caps and feeding the capssuccessively from the remote position to the sealing machine in a linein series relationship, blocking the passage of the caps to the sealingmachine at a point adjacent thereto, feeding the caps on the sealingmachine side of the block to the sealing machine sensing the formationof a gap of a length corresponding to a package length in the stackedcaps between the blocking point and the sealing machine as the caps areused by the sealing machine, and thereupon feeding another package ofcaps into the line of caps at the remote position while simultaneouslyremoving its wrapping, and temporarily unblocking the caps to allow theresultant movement of the line of caps 10 to refill the said gap.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 152,609,779 Goldsworthy Sept. 9, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 690,900 GreatBritain Apr. 29, 1953

